Traditionally, partitioning devices for compartments, such as drawer dividers, rely on spring-compression force to hold the divider in place. A user of the device squeezes the divider to compress it to a length that will fit within the compartment, then releases to allow the spring's compression force to hold the divider in place.
Applicant has observed several drawbacks of spring-loaded dividers. Springs lose tension over time, causing spring-loaded dividers to become loose over time and move within the compartment. Moreover, because the force necessary to compress a spring is a function of compression distance, the force required to squeeze the divider to a suitable length can become overbearing for narrower compartments. Alternatively, the force holding a spring-loaded divider in place is less and sometimes insufficient for a compartment about the width of the spring-loaded divider.